• Pumpkins: A roll-off will be located inside the tree branch drop-off area. Please, no plastic bags, branches, or other yard debris. Pumpkins will be composted.
• Leaves: Leaves can be placed into the tree branch pile. Please take all your bags with you. Do not leave them on site.
• Hours of Operation: Wednesdays, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. & Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

More Information

Content provided by the CSU Extension Newsletter.

More Information

Join cyclists across Colorado – and around the world – for the 2024 Winter Bike to Work Day! One of the great things about Colorado is that you can bicycle all year round. Now’s your chance to try a winter ride! Be sure to do a safety check before you ride, wear a helmet, and always follow the rules of the road. Be active, have some fun, and be safe. Happy biking!

Join Broomfield Bikes volunteering at the Broomfield RTD station in the Arista neighborhood handing out coffee & treats. Or stop by and say “Hi” on your way to work.

Broomfield Bikes is looking forward to lots of fun events this year and they need your help to pull them off! Take a look at the Calendar of Events/Volunteer Sign-Up and comment on the events where you would like to help.  A team member will reach out to volunteers 4-6 weeks in advance of the event to start coordination.

Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants

What’s the buzz about native plants? Find out at the ninth annual Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference on Saturday, Feb. 24 in Boulder. After a few years online, the group looks forward to welcoming everyone back in person at the 2024 conference.

Experts in horticulture, ecology, and landscape design will share how to plan, plant, and maintain beautiful and biodiverse native landscapes from the ground up. This year’s conference offers inspiration and insight to both novice and experienced gardeners.

Register Now!

Content provided by the CSU Extension Newsletter.

Winter Watering

Dry air, low precipitation, little soil moisture, and fluctuating temperatures are characteristics of fall and winter in many areas of Colorado. Often there is little or no snow cover to provide soil moisture from October through March. Trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns under these conditions may be damaged if they do not receive supplemental water.

The result of long, dry periods during fall and winter is injury or death to parts of plant root systems. Affected plants may appear perfectly normal and resume growth in the spring using stored food energy. Plants may be weakened and all or parts may die in late spring or summer when temperatures rise. Weakened plants also may be subject to insect and disease problems.

Quick Facts

• Water trees, shrubs, lawns, and perennials during prolonged dry fall and winter periods to prevent root damage that affects the health of the entire plant.

• Water only when air and soil temperatures are above 40 degrees F with no snow cover.

• Established large trees have a root spread equal to or greater than the height of the tree. Apply water to the most critical part of the root zone within the dripline.

More Information

Content provided by the CSU Extension Newsletter.

 New Composting Video Series on YouTube

Learn to recycle those food scraps and yard trimmings with a home composting basics video series — on YouTube now!

For anyone who’s ever wondered: What’s hot composting? What’s vermicomposting? Why should I compost? What are the basics of composting? And how could I get started? This series is for you! Check out the specific topics you’re interested in or watch the full workshop, offered in both English and Spanish. These workshops were recorded live in September 2023.

Learn more and access the Compost Workshops here!

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national research and advocacy organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy driven by local priorities and accountable to people and the planet.

Broomfield Commercial Composting Options

If you would like to start composting using a commercial company offering curbside pickup services, there are three options available in Broomfield.

• Clementine Curbside – They not only accept food scraps, but also grass clippings and yard waste. If you sign up with them and use the promo code: BROOMFIELD25, you will receive 25% off your first month and for Every Month you are a customer, they’ll donate $1 to Sustainable Broomfield.

• Compost Colorado – A unique composting solution that not only collects your food waste, but also delivers local sustainable products. They offer curbside pickup and a local drop off location at Roots Restaurant.

• Scraps – Scraps makes composting more approachable and accessible for both businesses and households, diverting millions of pounds of organic material from landfills to instead return to our soils. They offer curbside pickup and a local drop off location at the Broomfield Crescent Grange.

• New recycling and composting guidelines
• Why compost guidelines changed along the Front Range
• What to do with hard-to-recycle and hazardous waste materials
• Which packaging and mailers are recyclable, and which are trash
• Zero Waste businesses, resources . . . and more!

Even though we live in Broomfield, most of these guidelines apply. The Broomfield Recycling Center use the exact same guidelines as provided in this publication. Also, many of the facilities, like the Hazardous Materials Management Facility, accept Broomfield County residents. So bookmark this handy guide online for easy reference in the future!

In November Eco-Cycle and CoPIRG released their 7th annual State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado Report that examines the progress made by the state and Colorado communities in recycling and composting.

Despite a low recycling rate, Colorado is poised for significant breakthroughs in reducing waste! Read about groundbreaking actions that the state, local communities, and businesses are taking, and what more Colorado can do to support ‘reduce, reuse, and recycling’ practices and businesses!

Content above provided by Eco-Cycle

New Broomfield Recycle Guide

Take the guesswork out of recycling by checking the new Broomfield Recycle Guide! Learn where you can take your hard-to-recycle items such as appliances, car parts, mattresses, and more by visiting Broomfield Recycle Guide.

This content provided by the B in the Loop: Sustainability Newsletter

Don’t throw broken and burnt-out holiday light strings in your trash this season! Recyclers can separate and extract the bulbs for glass, wires for copper, and PVC for insulation materials! However, your curbside recycling company is not able to carry out this service.

Instead, take holiday lights, along with other hard-to-recycle items like batteries, electronics, bubble wrap and more, to hard-to-recycle centers, like SustainAbility, around the Denver area. And, for a limited time, SustainAbility Arvada is giving away a new set of LED string lights for free when you bring in an old set.

Can’t make it to SustainAbility for holiday string light drop-off? Visit one of these other local recycling facilities instead:

• CHaRM (Boulder)
• Blue Star Recyclers (Denver)
• Action Recycling Center (Wheat Ridge)
• Rooney Road Recycling (Golden)
• Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores

*Be sure to give them a call before you go as holiday hours may vary.

This content provided by the B in the Loop: Sustainability Newsletter

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act will ban plastic bags statewide. Stores may only give out recycled paper bags for a fee. Restaurants and food prep businesses will no longer be allowed to use polystyrene (Styrofoam™) to serve food or beverages.

Avoid fees and help reduce waste by bringing your reusable bags to your favorite Broomfield stores and restaurants. Stop by the Broomfield Health and Human Services Building or the George Di Ciero City and County Building to pick up a free Broomfield reusable bag (limit two)! Learn more about the ban at Broomfield.org/PlasticPollutionReductionAct.

Content provided by the CSU Extension Newsletter.

At the October 10, 2023 Council meeting, Broomfield City Council passed Resolution 2023-123 directing staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for City-Contracted Residential Waste Services (formerly “Universal Waste Collection”). The resolution moves Broomfield into the next phase of pursuing city-contracted services but does not enter Broomfield into a contract. Interested haulers will submit proposals to service single family homes and some small apartments (7 units or less).

The city contract would include volume-based pricing (the smaller the trash cart, the lower the rate) and embedded costs for the recycling cart (the customer pays for trash and receives a recycle cart at no additional cost). Residents have the opportunity to opt-out of the city contract subject to an opt-out fee. The RFP will explore different service options for organics (compost) collection. It will also explore any cost differences for including HOAs compared to excluding HOAs. This program alone is expected to increase Broomfield’s waste diversion by 2 to 8%.

Staff will return to Council by the second quarter of 2024 for contract review and approval, and with the related residential recycling and composting ordinance Council requested at the April 18, 2023 study session. Detailed information about costs and services will be available at that time. Services would begin in the first quarter of 2025. For more information on this program, please visit the Broomfield Voice Website.